I've Got You Under My Skin
by Mirandabelle
Summary: NEW, FINAL CHAPTER! This is it folks, what happened to Hawkeye, Margaret and the little girl??
1. I've Got You Under My Skin

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of M*A*S*H they all belong to Fox, although I wish I owned them! Also, the people I create are my property, and I don't mind people using them, just ask me first please!  
  
NOTE: I haven't seen all the episodes of M*A*S*H, as in Australia, reruns are patchy, so if I've got anyone's existing parents, spouses, siblings, hometowns, or children's names wrong or other details incorrect please tell me at mirandabelle@bigpond.com Any other comments would be greatly appreciated!  
  
This picks up in the episode where Hawkeye goes missing. I tried to keep this one fairly short to fit into an episode length, so details about what actually happened to him are a bit sketchy. I think there are some similarities to someone else's interpretation of this episode so if there are, I'm sorry. But I still hope you enjoy the alternate ending!   
  
I've Got You Under My Skin  
  
Hawkeye was always singing, He had been known to warble during an operation, while on a date with a nurse, when arguing with anyone of his superior officers or for just no good reason. And every time he sang, it was always the same, off-key, out-of-time tune, barely recognisable as "I've Got You Under My Skin". He'd show up late to meetings, making his presence known before he got there. "Don't you know little fool, da, da, da, da, da, da. Use your da, da, do, da. Wake up to whatever it is. For each time you da, da, da, da, do, da, do, da, da, da, da, do, do, da. Coz I've got you under my skin!" He'd flop into his place, as Colonel Potter would comment dryly, "Good to know you could make it." But now he was missing and he had been for days. Everyone was worried, BJ had drunk so many homemade martinis that if you cut him open, he'd have the gin flowing through his veins. Klinger was desperately listening for anything heard from new patients that would do as a rumour. Father Mulcahy was leading half hourly mass sessions at which all present, usually just him, prayed for the safe return of Hawkeye. Margaret was absolutely beside herself with hysteria, snapping at nurses unreasonably and ignoring everyone else. Colonel Potter had finally gotten word, and with regret called Major Houlihan, BJ Honnicut, Klinger, and Father Mulcahy into his office.  
  
"This is all they found." He said, tipping a bloodstained jacket and dog tags onto his desk. Tears instantly filled every eye. "I was searching his files and he left a will and something for each of us. BJ, first would you go and get the third book from the right, his Captain's bars and the little velvet box that are all on his bookshelf? Oh and that hideous shirt." BJ left the room, and was back with the items in about five minutes. He wrote this, 'Everyone, I don't want to think what's happened if you're reading this, either we're all drunk or I'm dead. Father Mulcahy, I have two things for you, first my Captain's bars, I never wear them, but I hope you'll get that promotion, second some advice, your collar's on backwards!" Father Mulcahy accepted Hawkeye's Captain's bars, from the Colonel's shaking hands. "Klinger again two things, I know how hard you're bucking for that section 8, so I hope that if someone sees you wearing my Hawaiian shirt with a black evening gown and mule skin flats, you'll get it. The second gift for you is my everlasting respect, I never knew such a scrounger yet I never knew such a good friend." Klinger picked up the shirt, and without meaning to, inhaled the stale smell of blood, alcohol, dust, perfume from a nurse and cheap cologne that always came with Hawkeye. He slipped it on as the Colonel continued. "BJ, I've left a package you might like to give to Erin, a list of all your patients in the time I've known you, a list of all the bad things about you that Erin is not to turn out like and a list of all the good things about her daddy that I hope Erin will turn out like. And there's a recipe for martinis, which you probably won't want to give to Erin." BJ accepted the package and began reading the lists his best friend had lovingly prepared. Colonel Potter read on "Colonel, as you know my father called me Hawkeye after his favourite character from 'Last of the Mohecans,' so I give you that book." The Colonel picked up the book and fingered the pages and kept reading, his normally strong self-sure voice cracking with emotion. "And finally, Major Houlihan, Margaret, I have a letter for you, if you choose to disclose the contents of it, that is your choice." The Colonel handed Margaret an envelope, and with tears in her eyes, she scanned the letter inside. "I'll read it for you," she whispered, "My dearest Margaret, if you're reading this, I don't want to know what's happened to me. But I'm leaving you an apology for all the dirty tricks and practical jokes I've played and for all the things I said that I shouldn't have. I'm also leaving you my mother's wedding and engagement rings. Dad gave them to me to give to a special woman in my life and you have definitely been the most special. All my love Hawkeye Pierce." Tears fell down her face, and Colonel Potter left his seat to shakily hug her. BJ wiped several tears from his eyes, and asked, "Are we going to tell the rest of the camp." Potter took a deep breath. "Yes, yes we will, in the morning, and until then Klinger, not a word I don't want this regarded as a rumour. We'll have a dawn service at 10.30," An almost-smile crept onto a few faces. "Just as Hawk would have liked." BJ said desolately. Potter nodded, "We'll have one last drink and say our private goodbyes. Then I want you all to go to bed. Klinger, I'm entrusting the arrangements for tomorrow with you. Including a call to Sidney Freedman, we might need him." Klinger nodded as the Colonel poured everyone a drink. "So long Hawkeye. You would have made a finer surgeon than I ever was." He choked back his tears as he raised his glass. "Hawk, whenever I see Klinger wearing your crappy Hawaiian shirt, I'll think of you." BJ lifted his glass and stood up, joining the Colonel Potter. "You could have just signed my discharge papers, sir. But I know you're a great man, you're willing to give someone the shirt off your own back." Klinger stood up and held his glass in the air. "Rest in peace my son." Father Mulcahy said simply and joined the three men, holding his glass in the air also. Everyone looked at Margaret, who sat there numbly, tears pouring down her cheeks as she stared at her glass. Suddenly she moved, opening the velvet box and slid the two rings onto her ring finger. "Goodbye Hawkeye, I'll wear your rings forever," she glanced briefly at the diamond ring and the plain gold band. She stood up, and lifted her glass. "Goodbye Hawkeye," the Colonel said, everyone 'clinked' their glasses and drank. Margaret was still sobbing and so Colonel Potter took her hand and she buried her face into him sobbing. "I wish to talk to Margaret alone. Dismissed." Everyone slowly filed out as Margaret continued to cry into Colonel Potter's chest.  
  
The next morning as the Colonel called for attention, he struggled to find a delicate way to break the news. Everyone looked at him, BJ and the others, who already knew, had huddled together, trying to appear as expectant as everyone else. "I'd. I'd like to say that Hawkeye is on his way to us. or even heading Stateside, but I can't I'm sorry. He got caught in the shelling, and all they found was his dog tags and his jacket. He's. he's dead." Forks, trays and people hit the floor. A coffee cup shattered as a young nurse began to cry hysterically. "Breakfast is hereby cancelled." The Private who was serving the meal put down the scoop. "Good, I don't want to eat." Someone said. Tears flowed as people hugged and consoled each other. The Colonel cleared his throat, "We'll have a dawn service at 1030 hours, a Hawkeye dawn service." A suggestion of a chuckle went through the room. "I expect to see all of you at the service in the compound." Colonel Potter turned on his heel and left, Margaret sobbed inconsolably onto Father Mulcahy and BJ tried to revive the people who had fainted.  
  
There was not a dry eye in the company as the last respects were paid to Hawkeye. Margaret was wearing his rings, Klinger the shirt and Father Mulcahy the Captain's bars. "And now," Colonel Potter slowly said, "We'll have a song in memory of Hawkeye. Hit it Klinger." The PA system crackled and the first bars of "I've got you under my skin," played, tears now streamed down every face. "I've got you deep in the heart of me, you're nearly a part of me." the formation had broken up as people hugged and comforted each other. Only BJ, Colonel Potter and Major Houlihan, her rings glinting in the early sun, still stood to attention, saluting. As the chorus began, they heard a voice singing behind them and everyone turned. Hawkeye emerged, bruised, dirty, limping and bleeding. There was a shocked silence as he joined the group, still singing. "For each time you start, just the thought of you makes me stop, before you begin. Coz I've got yooooou undeeeeeeeeeeer myyyyyyyy skiiiiiiiin!" 


	2. A Warm Welcome

"Pierce!" Potter hastily dropped the salute, staring in disbelief at the dirty, ragged figure before him.  
  
"Hawkeye!" Potter and BJ ran over to the man, everyone else following suit and crowding around him, people hugging him and planting kisses on his face. One of the nurses fainted and her friends worked to revive her.  
  
"You're alive Captain!" Klinger cheered, Hawkeye laughed, looking a little bemused.  
  
"Of course I am! Why all the long faces, why al the tears, and why is my song playing?"  
  
"You see Pierce, you've been missing for a week now. They found your jacket and dog tags. We thought you were, well, dead son." Potter said, choking back more tears.  
  
"I flipped the damned jeep, I told you I was a lousy driver!" He said, almost laughing, but waxing serious as he saw real fear in the Colonel's eyes.  
  
"You had us awfully worried there." Father Mulcahy smiled, shaking Hawkeye's hand.  
  
"Come on, you weren't that worried about me were you?" Hawkeye scoffed, "Were you?" He took in the tearstained, sombre faces. "Oh my god, you really thought they could knock off the infamous Benjamin Franklin Pierce?" He faked shock, and a tight laugh rippled through the group. He didn't know how scared they'd been.  
  
"What's with Major Houlihan?" Klinger said suddenly, drawing the attention away from Hawkeye. She sat on the dirt, clasping her knees and trembling.  
  
"Margaret, he's alive, it's okay." BJ had left Hawkeye's side and was kneeling down beside her. He took her hand, and squeezed it, she squeezed it back tightly, letting him know that underneath her shock she was okay. A couple of nurses knelt by her side, checking her pulse and temperature simultaneously. Margaret too stunned to move, forced herself out of shock.  
  
"Hawkeye! Oh my god, don't you ever scare me like that again!" She brushed the anxious people aside and ran to him, threw her arms around him, pressing kisses on his face, leaving reddish-pink stains wherever her lips touched.  
  
Surprised at the warm welcome, Hawkeye, every muscle aching, wrapped his arms around Margaret. He hadn't responded to any of the hugs any other nurse had given him, and many surprised glances were shared.  
  
"I was so scared, if you ever frighten me like that again Captain!" Margaret was yelling now.  
  
"I won't Margaret." Hawkeye said. They drew back, studying each other's eyes, Hawkeye's tired and confused, and Margaret's teary and loving.  
  
She kissed him, and he didn't fight, they just stood there, lips pressed tightly to each other. They came up for air, and Margaret noticed that Hawkeye was leaning on her heavily. She looked into his eyes, and saw the fear and pain there, he pulled her close in another tight hug, so tight she almost heard her ribs crack.  
  
"Help me," He whispered, passing out. Margaret suddenly had to support all his weight; a shocked murmur went through the group as he collapsed. BJ helped Margaret lay him on the ground.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"What happened?" The scared whispers stopped as everyone saw the blood on Margaret's uniform. Their eyes travelled to the figure on the ground, and saw much to their dismay, a red, sticky stain on the front of Hawkeye's shirt. 


	3. Fighting For Life

"Honnicut! Get down to OR, we want you ready by the time he's prepped!" Potter ordered, as Klinger and Igor lifted Hawkeye onto the stretcher, BJ was already halfway to the hospital.  
  
"Severe internal bleeding, bullet wound to the liver, bruised lungs, heart and kidneys, cracked rib, broken ankle, but the breaks are the least of our worries, he's lost a lot of blood." Bigalow reported once BJ came into OR, scrubbed and in gloves and a mask.  
  
"I see, and we're down to our last unit of A+" BJ muttered, trying to work out where to begin.  
  
"Major Houlihan's already on everyone who's A+." Bigalow replied. "You'll have blood before he's out of here."  
  
"Okay, let's get to work, scalpel." Bigalow handed BJ the scalpel and slowly they started to work.  
  
"How's he doing?" BJ asked, nervously, some minutes later, Hawkeye's insides were a bleeding mess.  
  
"He's been better. BP's low and breathing's shallow." Kellye replied.  
  
"Damn, there's a bleeder in here I've missed somewhere, come on Bigalow, suction!" BJ tried not to shout, and Bigalow, assisting him tried to have what he wanted when or before he wanted it.  
  
"BJ, his pressure's dropping. You've got to do something." Kellye said.  
  
"Shoot, get Potter!" BJ snapped. "Colonel!" He shouted, "Bigalow, get him, I'll manage for a second!" The nurse ran out and shouted for Colonel Potter. She returned to BJ and Potter, hastily tying a mask over his face.  
  
"There's a bleeder here somewhere can't find it, I need your help."  
  
"I'll scrub and be right back." Potter moved surprisingly fast, while BJ tried to find and stop the bleeding that was filling Hawkeye's abdominal cavity. Working together, they were able to find and stop it, and were beginning to think Hawkeye was going to pull through.  
  
Suddenly Hawkeye's entire body convulsed. "Doctor, he's going into arrest!" BJ said a whole lot of highly profane things as he pumped on Hawkeye's chest, trying desperately to get Hawkeye's heart to beat again.  
  
"Dammit Hawkeye, you are not going to die, not on my shift!" BJ yelled, "Rib spreaders! Get it in there." Bigalow obeyed, and BJ took Hawkeye's heart in his gloved hands, massaging it, praying that it would begin to beat.  
  
Potter was pumping air into Hawkeye's lungs. "Give him another minute, and only a minute." He said firmly, as BJ continued to squeeze the heart. "Son he's gone." Potter put a steadying hand on BJ's shoulder, but he was shrugged off.  
  
"I'm not going to stop." BJ said, continuing the heart massage. Hawkeye's body wasn't responding, and giving the heart one, last desperate squeeze BJ gave a strangled sob and let go, turning away from his friend.  
  
"You tried your best son. He was so badly beat up, it's amazing he was walking." Potter said soothingly, his voice choked with tears. Bigalow had called in Father Mulcahy who was about to perform the last rights.  
  
"Doctor! Doctor!" Kellye called frantically. BJ and Potter whipped around. "He's breathing again, heartbeat climbing to normal."  
  
"Thank god, thank god, oh thank god." BJ was close to hyperventilating.  
  
"Thank the Lord. Colonel what do you want me to tell everyone outside, they believe Hawkeye is dead." Father Mulcahy asked, as Colonel Potter began closing Hawkeye's torso, which was split practically from neck to navel.  
  
"That we were a bit premature in calling for your services." Colonel Potter replied.  
  
"May the Lord be praised." Mulcahy whispered, uttering a silent prayer before he went. A cheer was audible as Potter and BJ carried Hawkeye through to Post-Op. His condition was still critical, but if he saw the night, he'd probably pull through.  
  
"Can I see him?" Margaret asked sometime later as BJ prepared to go to sleep.  
  
"Promise you won't blush, he's half-naked?" BJ teased wearily. Margaret silenced any further jokes with a look, and BJ took her hand and led her into Post-Op.  
  
"Oh god, it's awful." Margaret said, tears falling silently down her cheeks. A shadow of his former self, Hawkeye lay pale and thin on the bed, one ankle in a cast, a bandage covering his entire chest. Tubes ran in and out of his arms that were bruised from the constant needles.  
  
"He'll be okay." BJ whispered, Margaret turned to him, and he held her for a second, while she started to cry. "If he sees the morning he'll be okay." She laid her head against his shoulder, crying, while he held her in a warm hug and rocked her.  
  
"I'll sit with him for a while, you go to bed." Margaret said, sitting down beside the bed. BJ, too tired to argue went to bed, and as he left Margaret took Hawkeye's hand.  
  
"Hawkeye, can you hear me? It's Margaret. You had me worried there for a while, but I'm glad you're back. Really glad, you know that? I'll stay with you; I want me to be the first person you see when you wake up. Now you get better." She kissed the hand she held, realising that she still wore his mother's rings. "I'll give you the rings when you wake. Now just get better, you hear?" She kissed his forehead lightly. He stirred a little, trying to brush where her hair tickled him. "You get better, and that is the most direct order I'm ever going to give you."  
  
Hawkeye went into cardiac arrest twice more during the night, but he kept fighting, and Margaret stayed with him, and every time he threatened to slip away from them again, she was the one who started resuscitation early enough to save him.  
  
She was tired, she'd been awake all night, and finally at about 5am her eyelids lost the battle, she was asleep, curled next to the bed, holding his hand. BJ who had been woken the when Hawkeye's heart stopped, was still prowling Post-Op.  
  
"Poor girl." He whispered, and with Baker's help, lifted Margaret onto the bed next to Hawkeye's. He pulled off her boots and covered her with a blanket. "He'll be fine, you're watching over him, he'll be fine." He reached down to pull the clasp from Margaret's hair as it was pointy and hard and could do some serious injury to an eye.  
  
Margaret slept on, and so did Hawkeye. Although he was alive, he had not woken up yet, and it was the next hurdle to recovery. Margaret woke at 8, hungry and confused, but as soon as she saw Hawkeye, she knew where she was and why. Hastening to see if he was still alive, Margaret checked his pulse and breathing. Once done, she let the hand slip from hers, threw her head down on the pillow and cried like she'd never cried before.  
  
"Margaret!" BJ had given up any idea of sleep and was still roaming the hospital. "Margaret, what is it?" He hurriedly checked Hawkeye's vitals. "Margaret, it's okay, he's alive."  
  
"I know!" Margaret sobbed. "I just . . . Oh! I'm so stupid to think like that, but I thought he was dead!" BJ rubbed her back for a few minutes while she composed herself.  
  
"Better? Let's go get breakfast, he'll be okay without us for a few minutes." BJ offered and together they went into the Mess Tent and informed everyone of Hawkeye's condition and got breakfast.  
  
He stayed asleep for another three days, in which Margaret practically lived beside his bed. She left only to go to the latrine, or to eat and when the bunk next door was filled, she set up a cot. In her constant attention, he recovered well, and they knew at last, that he was out of danger.  
  
Margaret had fallen asleep again, his hand clasped in hers, as she sat by the bed. However she woke suddenly when she felt an unmistakeable squeeze.  
  
"Hawkeye? Hawkeye!" She whispered, and Hawkeye squeezed her hand again, letting her know he'd heard. "Open your eyes honey, wake up." She continued encouraging him, and slowly he opened his eyes.  
  
"BJ! He's awake! Hawkeye, it's so good to see you!" BJ came running at Margaret's yell.  
  
"Hawkeye, how are you feeling?" He groaned his reply. "Thought so, you've undergone some serious trauma."  
  
"Hey Hawkeye, I'm glad to see you're okay." Margaret ran a soft hand down his cheek. He caught the hand and held it tightly.  
  
"I'm glad to see you're glad I'm okay Margaret." Hawkeye smiled weakly. "But why do you call me Hawkeye?"  
  
"Because silly, that's your name." Margaret laughed, but BJ put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Hawkeye, what's your name?" He asked seriously.  
  
"Apparently Hawkeye." Hawkeye said dazedly. "That's what you're calling me."  
  
"That's your nickname, what's your real name?"  
  
"Hawkeye." Hawkeye repeated.  
  
"Where are you?" BJ asked.  
  
"M*A*S*H 4077 Ouijonbou, Korea. It's 1952. I know WHERE I am."  
  
"Who am I?" BJ asked.  
  
"I know who you are, you're BJ, and she's Margaret." He added with a smile in the concerned woman's direction. She still held his hands tightly in hers. "Who am I? Where are my tags?"  
  
"Hawkeye . . ." BJ started anxiously.  
  
"Stop calling me Hawkeye! Who the hell is this Hawkeye person?" he snapped. BJ and Margaret were shocked, and shared anxious glances, it appeared Hawkeye wasn't quite so well as they thought. 


	4. Searching For An Answer

A/N: Hugs, kisses and glomps to Mylissa (Assilem) who has been a true angel and helped me with this fic! Please read her wonderful stories and leave reviews, coz she loves them as much as I do! Sorry it took so long, but I'm onto something here!  
  
"Well?" Potter asked, as Sidney, very confused emerged from Post-Op. Sidney shook his head and sat down.  
  
"In every other sense he is perfectly mentally healthy, well as healthy as Hawkeye ever was. He knows everything, where he is, why he is, when it is, who the President is, he knows everyone's birthdates, he knows everything about everyone here, even things they didn't think he knew, he can talk me through complex medical procedures so well Radar could have performed them, but he doesn't know who he is, when he was born, where he lives, anything at all. There seems to be no reason whatsoever for this personal amnesia. It's very unusual Colonel."  
  
"Thankyou Major, like a drink?" Sidney accepted the whisky gratefully.  
  
"I guess I'll try again in the morning, when Major Houlihan is available, I think he's linked with her, those rings."  
  
"By all means feel free Sidney, but be careful, I think those rings mean a lot to Hawkeye, and even more to Margaret. I'm not telling you how to do your job, but it could be a dangerous discovery, it may bring Hawkeye back the wrong way." The Colonel's voice was serious.  
  
"I'll keep that in mind Colonel." Sidney smiled, and went to the Swamp where he was staying. He went to bed, extremely puzzled and wondering about how best to approach the potentially dangerous and painful situation.  
  
"Hi Margaret, how are you?" Hawkeye smiled tiredly as she sat on the bed.  
  
"Good, thanks for asking, how are you?"  
  
"If I could remember I'd tell you." Hawkeye was sardonic in his reply. "And if I only knew why I gave you those rings." He took Margaret's left hand and studied the rings thoughtfully.  
  
"Listen, leave this for when Sidney is here okay?" Margaret said. "He'll be here soon, here he is now!" The dark-eyed doctor came in and sat on the chair next to the bunk. Margaret was sitting at the end, while Hawkeye held her left hand, playing with his mother's rings.  
  
"So, Hawkeye, tell me about yourself." Sidney sat patiently waiting for a reply.  
  
"According to what this beautiful lady has told me, I'm Hawkeye Pierce and I have a father." Hawkeye said, continuing to play with the rings on Margaret's hand.  
  
"Can you tell me about your mother?" Sidney asked.  
  
"I had a mother? I mean I must have to have been born but. . . these rings were hers I know that."  
  
"Because Margaret has them." Sidney thought. They were linked with someone he knew clearly, and so he knew where they came from.  
  
"But I forget why I gave them to her. I forget when I gave them to her. Margaret when did you get those rings?" He asked puzzled.  
  
"About a week and a half ago." Hawkeye had little idea how long he'd been gone, and didn't realise a week and a half ago, the camp was mourning his death.  
  
"I know why I gave them to you Margaret, it's because I love you." Hawkeye said. "Well, I can't remember if that's why I gave them to you THEN but that's why I want you to have them NOW."  
  
"I'll leave you two alone to talk it out." Sidney left before they could raise a fuss.  
  
"Margaret I have no idea who I am, or where I come from. All I know is that I love you and I want to learn about myself with you by my side."  
  
"Hawkeye, you're very tired, and delirious, I think it's about time you laid down and had a sleep. You get better okay?" Margaret tucked him in and kissed his cheek and left before things got too uncomfortable.  
  
"Beej, she didn't believe me." Hawkeye said. He'd been settled in the VIP tent to open up another bed in Post-Op.  
  
"Well, Hawkeye, you barely remember who you are, it would be hard for her to know if what you say is really what you feel." BJ reasoned.  
  
"You were always this right weren't you?" Hawkeye laughed. "I didn't tell you I cared for her before the accident did I?" Hawkeye knew that he'd had a jeep accident now, but he'd missed or not been informed of the fact that he'd been presumed dead.  
  
"You didn't say a word to me, or anyone else in the camp." BJ replied.  
  
"I might have told Dad, what do you think?" BJ shrugged. "Will Potter let me call home, so I can talk to Dad, maybe he'll know if I loved her or not." BJ shrugged again. "Were you always this little use? Come on, get me out of this bed and into the wheelchair."  
  
"Dr Pierce? This is Sidney Freedman, psychiatrist. Before you talk to your son, I want to explain a few things. Firstly that he was involved in a jeep accident, and is now well on the way to physical recovery. However, he is suffering a strange amnesia. He has little idea of who you are, he only knows that you're his father. I want him to remember things himself, so please only answer the question he will ask, I know you will probably want to tell him things, but this is for his own sake." Hawkeye and Daniel had a short talk after Sidney had issued instructions.  
  
"Bye Dad." Hawkeye put the phone down. "That voice is so familiar, I know it, but I don't."  
  
"Well?" BJ asked. Hawkeye shook his head, it seemed if there had been any attraction to Margaret, he had not let it show to anyone.  
  
"Listen, Margaret's going to have your hide if I'm not back in bed soon." Hawkeye said, taking the hint, BJ pushed the chair back into Post-Op and put Hawkeye back in bed.  
  
"I'd tell you a dirty bedtime story, but it might disrupt the patients and corrupt the nurses." BJ said with a grin. Hawkeye smiled tiredly. He was a lot stronger, but was still a long way from complete physical recovery.  
  
"BJ, Colonel!" The doors flew open and Fr Mulcahy burst in. He was holding a small Korean girl.  
  
"I found an overturned jeep on the way to the orphanage, and she was there." He explained as BJ checked her over, unaware that his friend had paled and was shivering.  
  
"Get her into OR, she's been hit by the jeep! Margaret and Baker, you two assist me, I don't know if we'll save her, it's a miracle she's still alive. Take her into OR and pray your rear off Father!" BJ disappeared to scrub. At that moment, Hawkeye burst into shocked, choking tears.  
  
"Dear god!" He sobbed, "I killed her!" 


	5. It's All Coming Clear

A/N: What happened will be revealed in a flashback separated from the rest of the story by *****  
  
Margaret became aware that Hawkeye was not himself, choking and crying. She sat down beside him, and at one he clung to her, seeking comfort.  
  
"Kellye, assist BJ, tell him why." She ordered. "Hawkeye, calm down, I'm here, it's okay what's the matter?"  
  
"I remember everything now." Hawkeye sobbed brokenly.  
  
"Sidney!" Margaret hollered, "Bigalow, get Sidney in here immediately!" Sidney appeared in a second, having heard the Major's first shout.  
  
"Hawkeye, what is it?" Sidney joined the two, Hawkeye clinging to Margaret and crying, Margaret trying to understand him and comfort him.  
  
"I remember everything! It's awful, I killed her!"  
  
"Tell me your name, and everything that happened." Sidney said steadily. "Don't be afraid to let it all out."  
  
"My name is Benjamin Franklin Pierce, I was born on January 28, 1920."  
  
"He does remember." Margaret murmured.  
  
"I thought I'd forgotten it all, not being able to help her!"  
  
"Who?" Sidney pressed.  
  
"That girl Mulcahy brought in. I hit her. . ."  
  
***********************************************  
  
The sun blazes overhead as a tall man in a jeep speeds along a Korean road, suddenly from nowhere a girl appears on the road. He swears and tries to stop, but he is not fast enough and hits her, her small 3year old body flying. As her body lands a few feet away, the driver performs a sharp u- turn, and his helmet falls off, his ebony hair shining in the sun. However, he turns too sharply and the jeep flips, throwing his body in the opposite direction. The jeep stops just inches away from the girl's head, stopping her from being killed. The driver's body lands with a thud a split second later.  
  
***********************************************  
  
"I couldn't help her when I woke up, I couldn't find my med bag. So I gave her shelter near the jeep, knowing someone would find her, and I left her. I couldn't help her, I couldn't, and so I forgot everything, even who I was, if I had really been me, I would have been able to help her but I obviously wasn't me, I couldn't live with the guilt." Hawkeye sobbed.  
  
"Hawkeye, guilt is a very natural response. But the jeep accident was simply that, an accident. You couldn't have helped it." Sidney replied quietly.  
  
"But I killed her because I couldn't help her." Hawkeye insisted. Margaret kept her arms around him.  
  
"Listen Hawkeye, what did you tell me about BJ yesterday?" The tone she used was no-nonsense, loving and slightly frustrated all at the same time.  
  
"That he was one of the best surgeons I'd ever seen." Hawkeye replied.  
  
"Then he'll do fine, he won't let that little girl die, no matter how hurt she is, now look at you, you're exhausted, I think you should go back to sleep."  
  
"I'll go talk to Potter." Sidney said, leaving as Margaret gently lay Hawkeye down and tucked him in.  
  
"Well doc, what's your diagnosis?" Potter asked as Sidney came in. They'd called a staff meeting and Margaret, Klinger and Fr Mulcahy were sitting in the office, BJ was still in theatre with the girl.  
  
"Guilt-induced denial, he hit the little girl BJ's operating on, and he couldn't help her when he came to, so he denied everything. He'll be okay as soon as he realises that the girl is okay and I hope BJ is a damned good surgeon, and gets her to pull through, because otherwise I don't know if Hawkeye will."  
  
"What about the bullet wound?" Margaret asked anxiously.  
  
"Never said, I presume that he just obtained it while he walked back." Sidney replied. "We said it was a sniper didn't we? I guess it was that one found about two miles from here just last week."  
  
"Well, let's just hope and pray that the child pulls through. Oh and that BJ's little patient does okay too." Potter joked a little, bringing a much- needed smile to everyone's faces.  
  
All they could do now was wait and hope like hell that BJ was as good a surgeon as they knew he was. 


	6. Grey Skies Are Gonna Clear Up

A/N: Well, here it is guys, the long awaited answer to whether or not Hawkeye and the little girl will pull through!  
  
BJ emerged wearily from theatre carrying the little girl with not only the care of a doctor but also with the love of a well-practised father. He'd fought long and hard for his patient's life and finally had won. He stepped back in surprise as he saw Margaret, Potter, Father Mulcahy, Sidney and Klinger waiting anxiously.  
  
"She'll be okay." His three words had everyone heaving a sigh of relief. "Mostly internal bruising, she wasn't so badly hurt as we thought, only minor injuries, she's living, breathing and in plenty of time she can be a mother too. Our next issue however is where does she go?" BJ directed his gaze towards the Colonel when Sidney spoke up.  
  
"On the bunk nearest Hawkeye, his sanity is relying on this child, and if you're sure she's going to live, I think being near her and watching her survive will be beneficial for him."  
  
"Colonel?" BJ queried, still cradling the precious life.  
  
"You heard the doctor, Major, get a bed near Hawkeye's for the little lady."  
  
"Colonel, permission requested to stay in Post-Op with Hawkeye and the girl." Margaret asked.  
  
"Granted." Potter sighed, seeing that it meant a lot to Margaret to watch Hawkeye survive. The group went their separate ways.  
  
"What day is it?" Hawkeye groaned, opening his eyes. He was still in Post- Op and had spent the better part of the last 24 hours sound asleep, and despite present weariness, looked much better for it.  
  
"Monday the 11th." Margaret answered. She was checking on the little girl in and her movements had woken Hawkeye, who noted with surprise and pleasure, that her cot was still set up beside his.  
  
"Is she okay?" Hawkeye asked anxiously, nothing was a mystery to him any more, nothing except why Margaret had the rings that is.  
  
"She'll be fine Hawkeye." Margaret replied, brushing a strand of hair off the little girl's cheek.  
  
"So I didn't kill her then?" Panic still hinted in his voice, but he no longer acted oddly.  
  
"No. She wasn't so badly injured as we thought, she's very lucky, but her parents haven't been. A few civilians, came into the 8063rd, shelling, two were worried about their almost 3-year-old daughter, who they'd seen run into the path of a jeep before the shelling got bad. They both died later, so we have a legal orphan here." Margaret said.  
  
"That's terrible." Hawkeye said.  
  
"I know." Margaret laid a soft hand against his face.  
  
"Can I give her a name then? So we don't just have to call her it, or the girl."  
  
"I suppose so." Margaret said. "It will be nice to have a name to call her." She was already attached to the child.  
  
"Charlotte." Hawkeye said without hesitation, "After my Mum. BJ and Mulcahy can pick her other names. Seeing as they saved her life."  
  
"I'll let them know, Sidney wanted to talk with you a little more, see if you can fit the last pieces of the puzzle."  
  
"Like why you have my rings? I know why you have them, I love you." Hawkeye insisted, he was not yet aware of his supposed death.  
  
"I know why I wear them, and that's not why you gave them to me Hawkeye, I only wish it had been though."  
  
"I think you've said enough Major Houlihan." Sidney cautioned, entering the room. Margaret jumped and fell quiet as Sidney bent over the girl for a second and then settled beside Hawkeye's bed, sitting cross-legged on Margaret's cot.  
  
"So Hawkeye, I hear you remember more." Hawkeye now knew who he was, and what had happened to the girl, his will was still a blank in his mind.  
  
"I remember everything! Even why the most beautiful nurse on this planet is wearing my rings."  
  
"Hawkeye, perhaps if I drop a few more names, and objects something might come back to you." Sidney said, deliberately ignoring Hawkeye.  
  
"Go ahead." Hawkeye agreed wearily. "I still know why I gave Margaret the rings, I love her and . . ."  
  
"Is the reason Klinger has your Hawaiian shirt because you love him? And I guess that's also the reason why Father Mulcahy is wearing your bars, and why the Colonel has The Last Of The Mohecans, your copy, in his footlocker, because you love him." Sidney kept his voice rational.  
  
"What, I said they could have them if I was dead!" Hawkeye realised the truth, "And BJ had a list of his patients for Erin, and . . ."  
  
"Margaret has your mother's rings." Sidney finished for Hawkeye. "Hawkeye, we all believed that you were dead. You lost your dog tags, and you'd been missing for so long, they declared you MIA and then KIA when they found your tags."  
  
"Oh Jesus, that can't be true, you really thought I was dead, oh god, oh god, I can't believe it!" Hawkeye began sobbing brokenly again, and Margaret was quick to take him close.  
  
"Hawkeye, you interrupted your own funeral." Margaret said softly a few minutes later when Hawkeye's hysterical tears subsided.  
  
"No wonder you were so glad to see me." Hawkeye whispered.  
  
"I was very glad, I couldn't bear the thought of living without you." Margaret said, climbing onto the bed beside Hawkeye, who wrapped her tightly in his arms. Sidney chose this moment to slip away, leaving the two alone, holding each other and coming to terms with things.  
  
"How're things?" Colonel Potter asked. Sidney glanced back into Post-Op, newly-named Charlotte slept, and on the bed beside her newly found lovers, or so Sidney suspected, embraced silently, realising the truth of it all.  
  
"He'll be fine, he knows, and it came as a shock, but he's got people here who love him very much, and in time, he will understand, especially with Margaret by his side, and I don't think she's going to be leaving it."  
  
"Well, if she does, she'll receive a boot so gosh darn hard in her patoot, it'll blow her into next week!" The Colonel laughed, looking at Margaret and Hawkeye, the blonde head and the black were so tightly close together, it was hard to determine where Hawkeye began and Margaret ended.  
  
"It looks like things are going to be okay." BJ said, coming up with Father Mulcahy, looking in as Hawkeye and Margaret now studied each other with awe, Hawkeye holding Margaret's hand, looking at the rings.  
  
"I know why I gave them to you then, and I want to give them to you now, in a slightly different spirit, you're still the most special woman I ever met, but instead of just admiring you as a nurse, Major and friend, I love you. Will you accept them in the spirit in which they are given?"  
  
"Of course I will, I love you too." Margaret whispered. "You do mean marry you, don't you?"  
  
"Yes!" Hawkeye laughed, realising his proposal had been rather indirect.  
  
"Well, then just call me Mrs Pierce." Margaret smiled, leaning in to kiss Hawkeye.  
  
"BJ, I do believe you're right." Potter said, watching as they kissed for the first and not the last time.  
  
"Well praise the Lord." Father Mulcahy tilted his eyes upwards. The room had begun to cheer a little and Hawkeye let go of Margaret, who hastily straightened her clothes and left, bumping into the men.  
  
"This is just my opinion doctors, but it's my belief that Captain Pierce is well enough to return to his own tent." BJ stifled a laugh, while Sidney averted his eyes and Father Mulcahy missed the meaning entirely.  
  
"Of course." The Colonel managed with a poker face.  
  
"By the way, Hawkeye has named the girl Charlotte, BJ, father he says you can pick her other names." Margaret informed them, both men looked touched and honoured. Margaret left the room nonchalantly, as though there had been nothing odd in kissing a patient.  
  
"Boys, I suggest you pick a name that sounds good with Pierce." The Colonel smiled. "I don't think we've heard the last of Hawkeye, or seen the last of little Charlotte." He didn't know how right he was. 


	7. I've STILL Got You

~*~*~*~JULY 1963 PIERCE RESIDENCE CRABAPPLE COVE, MAINE ~*~*~*~  
  
"Charlotte Janine Cassandra Pierce!" Hawkeye's voice called as he arrived home. From somewhere a 13yo Korean girl emerged, answering her father's call.  
  
"Yes Dad?" Hawkeye and Margaret had married and adopted Charlotte just a week before the end of the war. BJ and Father Mulcahy had had the honours of picking her other names, Cassandra was BJ's choice and Janine was Father Mulcahy's. Charlotte had been given Erin's birthday; as no one knew when her real one was.  
  
"Where's your beautiful mother?"  
  
"Upstairs with Bonnie." Hawkeye thanked his daughter and headed upstairs.  
  
"Hello my sweet, how was your day?" Hawkeye kissed Margaret, who handed him a 14week-old infant.  
  
"Hello Bonnie my love, have you been good for mummy today?" The baby smiled at the sound of his voice.  
  
"She's been very good. However Alexia and Danni haven't been great, they've been terrorising Ben again, more stories about bogey men in the basement, or the attic or the closet, or even under the sink. I'm about ready to shoot them!" Margaret referred first their 6yo twin daughters Alexia Kathleen and Danielle Therese, then to their 4yo son Benjamin Franklin Pierce Junior.  
  
"I'll talk to them later, what of Melissa?" Melissa Margaret was their oldest natural child at eight years old.  
  
"A darling as always, she's trying to prove to Ben that there are no monsters, I think she's having some luck."  
  
"Born psychiatrist." Hawkeye smiled. "Bonnie Marie, let's go and see how Melissa is going." Bonnie smiled up with wide blue eyes, a fuzz of black hair beginning to form on her scalp.  
  
"Melissa?" Hawkeye called, going into the room Melissa and Charlotte shared.  
  
"In here Daddy." Melissa's voice led him to the smallest bedroom in the house, occupied by Ben.  
  
"Mylissa!" The girl, the spitting image of Margaret ran over and hugged her father. A little boy, a mini Hawkeye sat on the bed, looking terrified.  
  
"You take Bonnie back to Mum and I'll finish up with Ben." Bonnie Marie had been a surprise, but was still very much loved. She had arrived 14 weeks earlier and was beginning to fuss for her mother.  
  
"Okay Daddy." Melissa agreed, taking her baby sister from her father.  
  
"C'mon sport, it's time we had a chat." Hawkeye went over to the bed and sat beside his son.  
  
"Goodnight Alexia, and remember if I hear of you scaring your brother like that again, you're going to be in serious trouble." Hawkeye tucked his daughter in, she had her mother's blonde hair, but with her father's silky straightness.  
  
"Yes Daddy." Alexia agreed sleepily. Hawkeye moved onto Danielle.  
  
"Same applies for you Danielle Therese, if I hear one word about you tormenting your brother again, you're going to be in a lot of trouble!" He tucked his daughter in, she looked nothing like her sister, with Hawkeye's ebony hair, with her mother's pretty curls.  
  
"Good night Danni my troublemaker." Hawkeye kissed her face tenderly. Alexia had arrived at 11.48 pm, and Danielle three hours later at 2.16am, so the twins had separate birthdays. However, less than an hour after Danielle was born Hawkeye's father suffered a stroke and died in his sleep, so Danielle was very precious to Hawkeye.  
  
"Well?" Margaret queried as Hawkeye shut the door. She was in the study, reading a book and rocking Bonnie.  
  
"They'll be good from now on. I had a pretty serious word to them." Hawkeye kissed his wife.  
  
"That's good, and Ben?"  
  
"Asleep, he had Melissa's monster spray to keep him safe." Melissa had taken an empty perfume bottle and filled it with water, pretending that it was 'monster repellent' and Ben believed her.  
  
"She's an angel!" Margaret whispered, glancing down. Bonnie was sound asleep and carefully she rose and carried the baby to her crib. Hawkeye followed her and watched as she gently laid their baby down.  
  
"Mum, can I read to you before I go to sleep?" It was Melissa, a book in hand.  
  
"Of course, go get into bed then Princess." Margaret replied, glancing at Bonnie one last time.  
  
"Oh and Daddy, Char needs help with her homework." Melissa added as Margaret escorted their PJ-clad daughter back to bed.  
  
"Tell her I'll be there in a second." Hawkeye was rummaging through some boxes in the study that had become the nursery when Bonnie arrived.  
  
"Yes, come on Mum!" Melissa urged, as Margaret paused to hear her husband's words. One story, and three pages of math homework later, Dr and Mrs Pierce were alone in their room listening as a scratchy old record played.  
  
"We've been lucky haven't we?" Margaret murmured.  
  
"6 healthy and beautiful kids, plus each other I'd say so Maggie dearest"  
  
"Margaret to you Benjamin!" She retorted with a grin.  
  
"Hawkeye to you." He smiled back passively, taking his wife to him and beginning to sing with the music. "And I'd sacrifice anything come what might for the sake of having you near. In spite of the warning voice that comes in the night and repeats and repeats in my ear. Don't you know little fool, you never can win? Use your mentality, wake up to reality . . ."  
  
"I'm glad you finally learned the words." Margaret said softly. "But I wish the same could be said for the tune."  
  
Hawkeye ignored his wife's gentle ribbing and continued singing, improvising in a particularly off-key way that made Margaret love him all the more.  
  
"But each time I do, just the thought of you makes me, stop before I begin. Coz I've got you under my skin. Yeah I still got you my Margaret under . . . myyyyyyyyyy skin!"  
  
The End.  
  
Hope you liked it guys! BTW, I don't own the song Cole Porter wrote it way back before I was born! 


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